


Of Snowball Fights and Cinnamon Buns

by WinterSky101



Series: Holidays With the Winchesters Are Always Fun [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 08:09:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSky101/pseuds/WinterSky101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, that time that Dean and Castiel had a really nontraditional but really cute Valentine's Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Snowball Fights and Cinnamon Buns

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and Dean is panicking.

Yeah, maybe he's getting a little too worried about holidays recently, considering his Christmas freak out and this Valentine's Day panic. But this is the first Valentine's Day he's actually going to really celebrate. Drunk hookups don't count. Dean has a  _boyfriend_  this Valentine's Day (though it seems really weird to be referring to Castiel with a term as normal as that) and Dean wants to make the day nice. It's Castiel's first Valentine's Day as well, and that means it should be special.

But Dean has no idea how to make it nice.

Castiel's currently out doing God-knows-what and Sam and Dean are alone in the motel room they're staying in. As much as it hurts Dean's pride to do so, he decides that, for Castiel's sake, he can do it.

"Sam, what do I do for Valentine's Day?"

Sam looks up from his laptop with a confused frown. "What?"

Dean can feel himself blushing, but he repeats the question. "What should I do for Valentine's Day? I want to make it nice for Cas, but I don't know what to do."

"Aww," Sam coos, giving Dean a look that never needs to grace Sam's face again. Dean rolls his eyes. "You want to have a nice day with your boyfriend!"

"Yeah, actually, I do. So can you help me out with this?"

"Maybe he has something planned," Sam replies, grinning deviously. "I wonder if he's freaking out about this as much as you are."

"I am not freaking out!" Dean instantly protests. "And he probably doesn't, considering he's got the social skills of a five year old!"

"Getting defensive, are we?" Sam asks. He's clearly milking the situation for all it's worth and Dean's regretting asking him for help. "Well, considering you're the lovebird, I think you'd know what to do better than I would."

"Yeah, but considering you're a girl, I think you'd know better," Dean shoots back.

Sam grins widely. "So you want a nice date with your boyfriend. You going to do the traditional roses and chocolates routine?"

"I don't even know if Cas likes chocolate!" Dean half-shouts. "And roses are stupid! I want this to be  _special_ , Sam! What the hell do I do?"

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Sam asks, frowning slightly.

Dean wants to punch something. "Are you just getting that now?"

Sam ignores that comment. "Well, if you want to have a nice Valentine's Day, I would recommend doing something that Castiel likes. And Dean, considering how Cas is, he'd probably be happy just spending the day with you."

"But I want to give him more than that!" Dean protests.

Sam shrugs. "Give him something he likes, Dean. And who knows? Maybe he  _does_  have something planned."

"Has he talked to you about this or something?" Dean demands, suddenly suspicious.

Sam grins. "If he did, I wouldn't tell you, would I?"

Dean frowns. "So that's a yes?"

Sam mimes zipping his lips shut. Dean rolls his eyes. "You're a bitch, you know that?" Sam types something out, then turns the laptop towards Dean. The word "jerk" is typed on the screen. "Ha ha. Very cute," Dean mutters to himself. He grabs his coat. "If Cas comes back, tell him I'm shopping," he calls over his shoulder as he leaves the room. He swears he can hear Sam snickering behind him.

Simply getting behind the wheel of the Impala and starting her engine is calming to Dean, though not by much. He's still panicking about what to do about Valentine's Day  _tomorrow_. He wants something special. Then again, Sam's basically implied that Castiel's planning something as well, so maybe Dean shouldn't do too much, just in case. He doesn't want to clash with whatever Castiel is doing. And most of the normal couple things are out. Breakfast in bed won't work, considering Castiel doesn't sleep, and for some reason Dean doesn't think a Hallmark card or anything to do with cupids would go over too well.

Dean goes over a mental list of things that Castiel likes that he could get him. He thinks he likes flowers - that is, he's seen Castiel examining gardens before and looking kinda interested - so maybe a bouquet could work. It's chick-flick-y and not at all Dean-like, but if Castiel would like it, Dean will put aside his manliness for the moment. And Castiel likes cinnamon buns - since he first had one on Christmas, he's gotten them when Sam and Dean would drag him along to diners for breakfast - and he likes pie, though he always insists that Dean finish his piece if Dean's done before Castiel, which is often. And Castiel seems to like animals of any sort. It's not a long list, by any means, but at least it's something.

Dean pulls the Impala into Wal-Mart, which is by no means classy but easy and cheap, and cuts the engine. Now that he's here, he finds he's even  _more_  worried. He has to pick something out now and he's terrified he'll choose the wrong thing. Of course, Sam's probably right, and Castiel will probably like anything Dean chooses for him simply because Dean chose it. But that isn't  _enough_. Dean wants to get Castiel something that he loves. He wants to make this Valentine's Day worth remembering, however he can.

This is going to be hard.

When Dean enters Wal-Mart, he finds that this one in The-Middle-of-Freaking-Nowhere, Ohio seems to take Valentine's Day seriously.  _Very_  seriously. Everything is pink. Dean wants to vomit. It's also crowded, which means that Dean will have to awkwardly shop for something for his angel boyfriend with other people there. He wishes desperately this could be like the Wal-Mart trip he did right before Christmas, where he ended up finding perfect presents, meeting a nice girl, finding out he was in love with Castiel, and getting a girlfriend for Charlie (he got a thank-you call from her a week after Christmas gushing about how wonderful Emily was, which made him smile). This trip seems like it'll be less fun and more hell. And, as he's been to Hell, Dean doesn't say that lightly.

Before he's even spent a minute inside the store, Dean's decided that it should be illegal to have this much pink in one place at once. He's bombarded by the vast amounts of the  _very_  bright and  _very_  girly color and he hates it. He makes the decision that nothing he buys Castiel will be pink. Red is okay, but pink is off limits.

Everything Dean can find is either for girls or for preppy, douche-y guys, and as Castiel is neither, Dean has no idea what to do. And, of course, since he's a guy that's looking for Valentine's Day gifts for another guy, he's getting looks from the other shoppers. Some of them are much less friendly than others.

A guy comes over to Dean with a sheepish smile. Dean instantly feels awkward. He doesn't want to have this discussion. He really doesn't. But it seems like he won't be able to avoid it.

"Are you looking for something for your boyfriend too?" the guy asks.

Dean nods sharply. "Yeah. You?"

"Guilty as charged," the guy replies, grinning slightly. "But I don't know what to get him. There's just so much to choose from, isn't there?"

"Yeah," Dean replies shortly. Seeing that the guy looks a little insulted by his curt answer, he reluctantly adds, "And my boyfriend is pretty unique, so I don't know what to get."

"Yeah, neither do I," the other guy replies. "My name is Jacob, by the way. Call me Jake."

"Dean." The second the word is out of his mouth, Dean wonders why the hell he gave this guy his real name, but now that it's out, he can't take it back.

"Cool," Jake replies. "Hey, maybe you can tell me a bit about your boyfriend and I'll tell you about mine, and then we can help each other look!"

Frankly, Dean thinks that this sounds like a terrible idea. But he knows that it might help, and so, for Castiel's sake, he'll do it. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good to me. Um, you go first. What's your boyfriend like?"

"Well, he's a bit of a nerd," Jake replies, smiling fondly. "And he's kinda girly when it comes to his appearance sometimes. And I don't know how well chocolate will go over. He can be a health freak sometimes. But I do think he likes it."

Dean grins. "He sounds kinda like my brother," he replies. "Do you think he'd like breakfast in bed or something?"

"I don't live with him, so I can't do that," Jake replies, looking down. "I was thinking maybe I could do assorted candies or something. I mean, how can you go wrong with candy?"

"Take it from someone who lives with a health freak," Dean says with a grin. "He'll like the candy. All health freaks are the same when it comes to this. No matter how much they claim to not want anything sweet, they'll jump at a chance to eat it." Almost against his will, Dean's starting to like this Jake. Something about him reminds Dean of someone he's led met before, but he's not sure what or who.

"Okay. I guess I'll do the traditional box of chocolates," Jake replies. "And I was thinking a toy or something. Just to be cute."

"I was thinking of doing that for my boyfriend too," Dean replies. There's no way in Hell he's telling this guy Castiel's name. The name Dean is normal enough that it probably won't raise any red flags, but Castiel isn't exactly common and thus might tip someone off to where they are. And, depending on who gets the tip-off, it might be really bad.

"Yeah, tell me a little about your boyfriend so I can help you out!" Jake says, sounding excited to help.

Dean shrugs. "He's a little socially awkward. This is the first Valentine's Day he'll have ever celebrated."

"First ever?" Jake asks, looking surprised.

"Yeah. Religious upbringing. Really strict. He's left his family now and he lives with me and my brother."

"Ouch," Jake replies sympathetically. "Did they kick him out because he was gay?"

"Nah," Dean replies. "It had nothing to do with that. He left, then they dragged him back and he did some shit that they didn't like, and they kicked him out."

"That doesn't sound fair," Jake says with a frown.

Dean can't deny that. It  _is_  really freaking unfair. "He doesn't mind though," he replies. "Not really. He's got me and my brother. He's like family."

"That's sweet," Jake replies, and though it almost sickens Dean to think about it like that, he supposes it is kinda sweet. Which, really? Chick-flick moment much?

"Yeah, well, he likes animals and flowers and shit," Dean adds, trying to get away from the very sappy moment.

"Why don't you do the breakfast in bed thing?" Jake suggests.

Dean shrugs. He can't exactly explain that, as Castiel doesn't sleep, he can't do that. "Maybe," he replies ambiguously. "I mean, he likes cinnamon buns." An idea is starting to form in Dean's mind. "This would probably be better if I could get rid of my annoying brother for the day."

Jake grins. "Tell him you're going to have sex. Works like a charm every time my boyfriend's older brother uses it on him."

Dean chuckles. "I've used that a couple times. But my boyfriend and I haven't exactly gotten there yet, so I don't think he'd fall for it."

"Damn," Jake replies in a playfully disappointed voice. "Is your brother seeing anyone? I assume he isn't."

"No," Dean replies. "His hookups never last too long."  _The girls tend to die too quickly,_  he adds mentally, but if he says that to Jake, it'll sound like Sam's a serial killer or something, so he keeps that to himself.

"That's too bad. So, back to your boyfriend. You should get him cinnamon buns for breakfast or something. And maybe you could get him chocolates or something else he really likes as a treat."

"He loves pie," Dean suggests.

Jake grins widely. "Perfect. Get him a pie and you can have that after dinner. And maybe you could get him some flowers. And a stuffed animal, since you said he likes animals."

"Yeah, that sounds like it could work." Dean knows that he can't possibly hope to wake Castiel up with a breakfast in bed, but he could maybe get the cinnamon buns and surprise Castiel with them in the morning. And the pie would be great for dessert. He could do the flowers with breakfast and give Castiel the toy after dinner or something. That would leave the rest of the day for whatever Castiel had planned.

"Sounds good to me! Thanks for the help!"

"No problem," Dean replies. He goes over to where all of the little toys are and starts looking through them as Jake goes to get chocolates for his boyfriend, whoever he is. Jake seems like a good guy. His boyfriend must be pretty lucky.

Dean finds a bumblebee toy and, remembering how Castiel seemed to really like bees when he was crazy, he picks it up. The pie and cinnamon buns he'll get from the grocery store, and he passed a florist on the way to Wal-Mart, so he can get the bouquet there. This entire thing is very girly and not something Dean would normally  _ever_  do, but for Castiel, he can put aside his pride for the day.

At the grocery store, Dean picks up a pack of six cinnamon buns and a blueberry pie, which he knows is Castiel's favorite even though Castiel thinks he's kept it a secret. The florist's has a lot of flowers, most of them roses, but Dean chooses a bouquet of carnations that are dyed a shade of blue that reminds him of Castiel's eyes. He hopes that Castiel won't be there when he returns to the motel room and he can hide his purchases more easily. His wish is granted. Sam's the only one in the motel room when he returns. Dean ignores his brother's smirk as he enters the room.

"How did the shopping go?" Sam asks in a deceptively normal voice.

Dean throws him a glare. "It was awesome," he replies sarcastically. "Do you know how much pink shit they've managed to cram into one little Wal-Mart? I thought I would puke."

"What did you get Cas?" Sam asks, getting up and looking interested.

Dean shields the bags with his body. "You don't get to see 'cause you're a bitch," he replies. He knows it's not all that mature, but he does it anyway. Sam sticks his tongue out at Dean - actually  _sticks his tongue out_ , which makes Dean feel better, because that's definitely more immature than him - and huffs angrily.

"Fine. See if I care," he replies, making a face that looks far too close to a pout and going back to his laptop. Dean rolls his eyes. He stuffs the pie and cinnamon buns in the refrigerator and puts the bumblebee toy in the cabinet. He looks over to see if Sam's watching him and, seeing that his brother is still obstinately staring at his laptop, he quickly fills a vase with water and stuffs the flowers in it. They join the toy in the cabinet.

"No peeking," he instructs Sam sternly.

His brother rolls his eyes. "Scout's honor," he calls back. "Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Why is it that you two use insults as a way of showing your affection?" Castiel asks. Dean jumps a solid foot in the air and turns around to see Castiel behind him. Yes, he's been doing that for years now, but it's still creepy.

"Hey, Cas," Sam calls over, unaffected by the angel's entrance. Dean wills his heart to stop beating so fast.

Castiel frowns slightly. "Dean, are you alright?" he asks, looking a little worried.

Dean nods. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replies. He pulls Castiel in for a quick kiss - Sam makes gagging noises - then releases him. "Where were you?"

Is it Dean's imagination or does Castiel look shifty for a moment? "It is nothing of import."

Dean nods. He's curious, but considering Sam implied that Castiel has something planned for tomorrow, maybe he shouldn't push.

"So guys," Sam cuts in. "I found us a case." The subject is effectively changed and Dean turns to his brother. Castiel is watching with interest, but his eyes go wide for an entirely not-supernatural-related reason when Dean's arm snakes around his waist and squeezes just a little bit.

"What is the case, Sam?" he asks, his voice maybe a little higher than it's normal gravely tone.

Sam smirks. His eyes clearly show that he knows what Dean's doing. Dean hopes his expression is innocent enough.

"It's pretty basic. Just a haunting in Indiana. I thought we could maybe go check it out."

"Today?" Dean asks, hoping the answer is no.

Sam grins. "Maybe I should see if I can get Garth to put someone else on it," he replies. "We've done a bunch of hunts recently. We should take a few days off."

Dean grins at Sam, whose face clearly shows that Dean owes him. Castiel seems to be unaware of this exchange. "It would be nice if we could take a day off," he puts in. "I am not tired, but I imagine that you two might be."

"Yeah, Sam, that sounds great," Dean adds before Sam can make some smartass comment. "Why don't you call Garth?"

"Don't do anything disgusting," Sam warns as he pulls out his phone and steps out of the room.

Dean looks at Castiel, whose head is tipped to the side in confusion. "What does Sam think that we will do that is so unappealing to him?"

Dean grins. "He thinks we're going to kiss."

Castiel smiles slightly. "That was my plan," he admits.

Dean grins back. "Mine too."

Sam reenters the room a minute later, sees Dean and Castiel making out against the cabinets, and promptly leaves again.

* * *

Dean wakes up bright and early on the morning of Valentine's Day to find Castiel sitting at the end of his bed with a fond smile on his face.

Dean smiles back. "Morning," he says.

Castiel looks confused for a moment, then seems to remember what Dean told him about greetings. "I have been led to believe that today is a day for lovers to spend together," he replies without preamble.

Dean nods. "You got it in one, Cas. Damn, you really don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"I don't understand that reference," Castiel repeats without skipping a beat. "But I plan on spending the day with you and Sam. I was thinking that we could go through with your plan to visit Alaska and spend time in the snow."

Castiel's deadpan way of telling Dean his plan is almost as good as the plan itself. He's is watching Dean expectantly, obviously waiting for approval for his plan.

Dean smiles widely. "Sounds great to me. I have a treat first, though. Wake up Sam, will you?"

Castiel obediently goes over to Sam and wakes him with a single tap (those angel powers are really useful at times like this). Sam instantly jerks upright, fully awake, as Dean goes over to the refrigerator.

"Wakey wakey, Sam," Dean calls over to his little brother, who sends him a bitchface that somehow is pissed off and also exhausted. Dean grins widely. "Come on, it's almost nine o'clock. It's past time to get your ass out of bed."

"We have a day off," Sam moans, flopping back against his pillow. "I want to _sleep_."

"Guess you don't want a cinnamon bun, then." Both Sam and Castiel look over at Dean with wide eyes and he almost bursts out laughing. He holds up the container of cinnamon buns. Suddenly, Sam can't get out of bed fast enough. Castiel is more subdued, but still obviously excited. Dean's very glad that he decided to do this.

"Dean, you're the best," Sam says emphatically as he grabs one of the cinnamon buns.

Dean rolls his eyes. "I didn't do it for you, Samantha," he replies, handing Castiel another cinnamon bun.

Castiel gives him a quick kiss in return. "Thank you, Dean."

Dean smiles widely. "You're welcome, Cas. Oh, and I also got these." Dean pulls the vase of flowers out of the cabinet. Castiel's face lights up and Dean knows he made the right choice. Just seeing Castiel that excited is making Dean happy as well. He thinks he gets why people do the couple thing so much. It feels great to see Castiel happy about something that Dean did.

"Thank you, Dean," Castiel repeats emphatically. He takes the flowers from Dean's hands, then frowns in confusion. "What is this?" he asks, pulling out a little sign in the middle of the bouquet. Dean doesn't blush. He really doesn't. He's completely stoic as Castiel pulls out the little heart-shaped sign that has "be mine" written on it.

Okay, maybe not  _completely_ stoic, and maybe he's blushing a  _little_ , but what else do you expect?

"The flowers came with it," Dean replies.

Castiel smiles. "Thank you, Dean," he says a third time. "If you wish, I will be yours."

Dean laughs at the serious tone of voice that Castiel uses. "And I'm yours," he replies. He give Castiel a lingering kiss.

Sam mimes gagging. "I'm  _eating_  here," he complains. "Could you keep the touchy-feely stuff to a minimum?"

"Stop complaining and get your own goddamn valentine," Dean snaps back. Sam groans and goes back to his cinnamon bun.

This is going to be a fun day, Dean thinks to himself, especially if he and Castiel can keep making Sam this uncomfortable.

* * *

After breakfast, Castiel uses Angel Airways to get Sam and Dean to the middle of a snowy expanse in God-knows-where, Alaska. It's freezing cold, but Sam and Dean have their coats and the temperature doesn't effect Castiel.

"Is it too cold?" Castiel asks, sounding a little worried.

Dean shakes his head. "It's perfect. Thanks, Cas."

Sam mimes gagging again as Dean kisses Castiel gently. " _Please_  stop doing that while I'm around," he begs.

Dean rolls his eyes. "Fine. We'll have a snowball fight, if you really don't want to see Cas and me kissing."

"All three of us against each other?" Sam asks.

Dean grins wickedly. "Cas needs someone to help him out, since he's never had a snowball fight before. So I'll team up with Cas and we can go against you."

"No fair!" Sam protests.

Castiel looks slightly confused. "Doesn't the imbalance of the teams stack the odds in our favor?" he asks Dean.

Dean shrugs. "Yeah, maybe, but Sam can suck it up."

In response, Sam throws the first, hastily-made snowball at Dean. "Okay, now it's on," Dean declares, grabbing his own handful of snow. Castiel watches with interest as Dean launches a snowball at Sam and Sam retaliates with another. It's not until one of Sam's snowballs hits Castiel full-on in the face that he actually gets involved.

"You're in for it now, Sammy," Dean warns as Castiel bends down in the snow and attempts to make a snowball. It's not perfect, but it's good enough and Castiel's aim is impeccable. The snowball hits Sam hard in the chest. Dean has to assume that Castiel's holding back, considering Sam doesn't stumble backwards or fall over. Having been on the receiving end of angel strength before, he knows that Castiel could have probably knocked Sam unconscious with a single snowball.

And if  _that's_  not an arousing thought, then nothing is.

"You suck!" Sam calls over. Castiel merely smiles slightly and shakes the snow out of his hair. Sam's face is pink and Dean's sure his is as well. To his surprise, Castiel's face is slightly flushed too, but he puts it down to basic human anatomy. Even if Castiel doesn't get affected by the cold, his body has to experience it.

"Is this now the point of the game?" Castiel asks, lobbing another snowball.

Sam dodges, but moves right in the path of another that Dean throws. "Two against one is no fair!" he protests as he ducks to avoid another snowball. His next one hits Dean in the ass as he bends to make another snowball, though, so Dean thinks they're even.

"You're doing pretty well on your own, Sammy," Dean calls back as he throws another snowball that just barely grazes the side of Sam's head. "Anyway, Cas is my boyfriend. He'd help me even if we weren't already teamed up."

"Oh, I don't know," Castiel muses, making another snowball. "I believe this would be more fun if the two of us weren't both against Sam." With that, Castiel sends his newly-made snowball at Dean. It hits him in the face. Sam bursts out laughing and Castiel looks far too pleased with himself.

"You should  _not_  have done that," Dean warns playfully. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into." Rather than throw another snowball, Dean full-body tackles Castiel to the ground. He assumes it's surprise that allows him to push him down. Castiel's eyes are wide with surprise.

Sam's laughing even harder. "Making snow angels?"

Castiel frowns slightly. "What is a snow angel, Dean?"

Dean shakes his head. "Little kid stuff. And no, Sammy, that's not the plan.  _This_  is the plan." Dean kisses Castiel hard on the mouth. When Castiel's eyes drift shut, Dean grabs a handful of snow and pulls away. Castiel's eyes open in shock and Dean mashes the snow into his face. Sam doubles over laughing. Castiel looks ridiculous, with big blue eyes peering out from behind a layer of snow.

"Is that how one has a snowball fight?" he asks, brushing the snow off his face.

Dean grins and lets him up. "Well, it's the Winchester way."

Castiel's face is even more flushed and Dean finds that he likes it. Castiel smiles. "I think I like it."

Then a snowball hits Dean's face and ruins the moment entirely. Sam looks pleased with himself until Dean looks at Castiel.

"Truce?" he asks.

Castiel grins mischievously. "Truce," he agrees. The grin slowly slides off Sam's face as both Dean and Castiel start attacking him with snowballs at once.

The sound of their laughter echoes across the empty, snow-covered field.

* * *

After around an hour and a half in the snow, Sam and Dean are freezing and exhausted, so Castiel takes them back to the motel. On the way, he somehow dries their clothes, which helps a lot with the cold, but it can only do so much. "Dibs on the first shower!" Sam calls the second they reappear in the motel room, sprinting towards the bathroom.

Dean groans. "And knowing Sam, I'll have to wait  _forever_  for there to be hot water again," he grumbles to Castiel, who only looks confused.

"I heard that!" Sam calls back. Dean rolls his eyes.

"I could help you to warm up," Castiel offers. And yeah, he means it innocently, but Dean's mind takes it sexually. Honestly, what do you expect?

"Sounds good to me, Cas," Dean replies. He pulls off his shoes and strips off all his layers except his t-shirt. "But you have to lose the trench coat and the shoes first."

Castiel looks puzzled. "This is not what I had in mind," he tries to say, but Dean cuts him off.

"Just go with me here, Cas. Ditch the coat and the shoes."

Castiel slides out of his trench coat and takes off his shoes. He looks much smaller without the coat on. A suit jacket is revealed under it. "Lose the jacket too," Dean commands. Looking even more confused, Castiel takes off the suit jacket. "Do you have anything on under that button down?"

"An undershirt. Dean, I do not understand-"

"Take off the button down," Dean interrupts.

Castiel takes it off as well. "Dean, what is going on?" he asks once the shirt's off.

Dean gives Castiel an appraising look. He's not crazy ripped, but it's definitely not bad. "You said you wanted to warm me up," je replies. "Come on." He pats the bed and Castiel's face goes an interesting shade of red.

"Are we… I mean to say, um… Do you intend to… uh…"

"Spit it out, Cas," Dean replies, confused.

Castiel blushes even harder. "Do you intend to engage in sexual intercourse?"

Dean doubles over laughing. Tears are springing to his eyes. It was funny enough for Castiel to ask that question, but the way he worded it was  _priceless_. It takes Dean a minute or two to regain control of himself, a time that Castiel spends looking at him as if he's some sort of bizarre exhibit in a zoo.

"I do not see what was so humorous about my question," he states once Dean stops laughing. And that's  _almost_  enough to set Dean off again, but he forces himself not to laugh.

"It's… Never mind, Cas. And no, that wasn't my plan. I was just thinking we could snuggle. You know, cuddle under the blankets? Maybe kiss a bit?"

Castiel's face clears of all confusion immediately. "I believe I would enjoy that," he replies.

Dean smiles widely. "Then why aren't you over here yet?"

Castiel is a bit awkward as he crawls under the covers, but Dean wouldn't have it any other way. Anyway, this is new for him too. Dean's one-night-stands normally didn't stay for the cuddling part, and he normally didn't encourage it. It seemed too girly. But with Castiel, he doesn't mind.

It's very warm in Castiel's arms, and Dean's pretty tired. So when Sam leaves the bathroom a while later, he finds Castiel holding a sleeping Dean in his arms and wearing a content smile. It's more peaceful than either of them normally are, so Sam slips out of the motel room quietly while Castiel runs his fingers through Dean's hair lovingly.

Yeah, it's cute, but it's also Sam's brother and his best friend, which makes him want to puke just a little bit.

* * *

Dean wakes up to find two strange things. One, he's alone in the bed, though he's sure that Castiel was there when he fell asleep. And two - this one is much weirder and probably should have been the first thing, but Dean's priorities don't go the way most normal people's do - the room is  _full_  of hot pink, heart-shaped balloons.

"Cas?" Dean calls.

Castiel appears instantly. He looks surprised. "What are these?" he asks, looking around. "Is this another part of the Valentine's Day celebration?"

"I didn't do it," Dean replies, frowning. "I thought it was you!"

Castiel shakes his head. "But whoever did it was very fast. I only left a minute ago to bring Sam his wallet."

"What?" Dean asks, looking around. Sam isn't in the motel room. Dean should have noticed that earlier. "Where is Sam?"

"He left after he took his shower," Castiel replies, walking over to Dean. "But he forgot his wallet, so he asked if I could bring it to him."

"And these weren't here when you left?" Dean asks.

Castiel shakes his head. "I think I would have noticed them, Dean," he replies dryly.

Dean nods. "Yeah, probably. So where the hell did they come from?"

Castiel frowns in confusion. "It seems supernatural, but it is not what the monsters we hunt normally do." And damn if that little "we" doesn't make Dean feel awesome. But that's not the point.

"You're right," Dean replies, frowning as well. "This seems like a Gabriel thing to do. But it couldn't be him, could it?"

"Well, it's possible that my father could have brought Gabriel back," Castiel replies, looking confused. "But if he had, I would think that Gabriel would come to see us before now."

"Unless he's been waiting for an opportunity like this," Dean counters. "This is a great time to pull shit like this. Maybe Gabriel's been waiting for now."

"Ding ding ding!" an annoyingly familiar voice crows. "Give the boy a prize!"

Dean groans. "I didn't actually  _want_  you back!" he protests as Gabriel saunters forward.

Castiel looks stunned. "Gabriel?" he asks in a small voice.

Gabriel's smirk turns into an actual smile, if only for a moment. "Hey, Cas. Nice to see you, little bro."

"I…" Castiel's voice trails off and Dean realizes that this is a very personal moment for him and not something that he needs to intrude on. But when he gets up to try and leave, he sees Gabriel's gaze zero in on him and knows that he's not going to get out of this that easily.

"Well, someone's not looking very festive," Gabriel scolds. He snaps and Dean looks down to see that his clothes have turned hot pink.

"Change them back," he growls warningly.

Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Touchy, touchy," he mutters, snapping again. Dean's clothes go back to normal. He hadn't expected that to actually work, but he's happily surprised.

"What are you doing here, Gabriel?" Castiel asks.

Gabriel grins. "Doing just what Dean thought. Pulling pranks. This is a perfect time and the Winchester boys happen to be my favorite humans to mess with, so you do the math."

Dean rolls his eyes. "And explain to me again how a joker like you is an archangel?"

Gabriel's grin only widens. "Not just an archangel. The only one left in Heaven. Daddy brought me back around Christmas when he realized how screwed up it was upstairs. I'm supposed to fill the power vacuum or something. But it's much more fun to play around with humans, so I spend most of my time down here."

"Was it you that put that red sock in our white wash?" Dean demands suddenly. Two weeks ago, a bunch of his and Sam's clothes had gotten ruined when a red sock somehow made its way into the white wash. Sam insisted that it hadn't been there when he put the wash in, and considering neither Dean nor Sam actually  _have_  any red socks, they just chalked it up to the person before them leaving a red sock in the washer accidentally. But, judging from the way Gabriel's smirking, that was not the case.

"It was a great opportunity. And you know me, always looking for good opportunities."

"You're an asshole," Dean replies simply.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. "And I thought that having sacrificed yourself to save a couple of humans and try and prevent the Apocalypse was a redeeming quality."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Yeah, that was great, but it doesn't mean you're not a dick."

"You didn't think so yesterday," Gabriel shoots back.

Dean frowns. "What the hell do you mean?" he demands. Gabriel grins widely and slowly changes his appearance until he looks like a familiar young man.

"You were Jake?" Dean demands.

Gabriel changes his vessel back to the way it normally looks and beams. "Guilty as charged!"

Dean's mind is whirring a mile a minute. "So that boyfriend that sounded suspiciously like Sam…" he says, his voice trailing off as he thinks. Gabriel's smile only widens and he pulls a box of chocolates and a small moose stuffed animal out of nowhere.

"You think Sammy will like them?" he replies. Dean stomps forward to punch Gabriel in the jaw, but by the time he can get there, he's already gone.

"Take me to Sam right now," he demands of Castiel. Looking stunned by Gabriel's antics, Castiel grabs Dean's arm and a moment later, they're looking at Sam.

Who's gratefully accepting the chocolates and toy from Gabriel.

And hugging him.

Dean's about to make an angry comment when he suddenly reappears in the motel room. "What the hell are you doing?" he demands angrily, glaring at Castiel. "Bring me back! Sam doesn't know what he's getting himself into!"

"Leave them alone," Castiel replies, his voice calm despite the situation. "Sam enjoyed being with Gabriel. I would think that, as Gabriel is now alive again, Sam would like to spend some time with him.  _Without_  you breathing down his neck. Did I get the saying right?"

All of Dean's anger deflates as Castiel looks at him with an eager expression. He laughs softly. "Yeah, Cas, you got it right," he replies. Castiel beams. "Well, I guess Sam can hang out with his archangel buddy, but that means that we're eating the pie without him."

"Pie?" Castiel asks, looking eager.

Dean grins. "Blueberry," he confirms, pulling the pie out of the refrigerator. "And I got this for you. It thought it was cute." Dean pulls the bumblebee toy out of the cabinet and tosses it to Castiel. It's far from romantic, but he is Dean Winchester, after all.

"Thank you," Castiel says, looking at the little toy. The bee is holding a red heart that says "bee my valentine?" on it. Dean thought it was kinda cute, and apparently Castiel thinks the same thing. He tucks it into the pocket of his trench coat. "Could we have the pie now?"

Dean grins. "Yeah, we can have the pie now." He cuts a slice of the pie and hands it to Castiel, who accepts it gratefully.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Cas," he says softly.

Castiel's smile is bright enough to light up the room. "Happy Valentine's Day, Dean."

And yeah, it isn't traditional or normal. But if the point of Valentine's Day is to show how much you love your partner, then Dean and Castiel get the point.

And maybe, just maybe, Sam and Gabriel do to. But Dean doesn't want to think about that. So he sits down next to Castiel, leans against him just a bit, and the two eat their pie together in silence.

All in all, it's a pretty nice Valentine's Day.

**Author's Note:**

> My writing tumblr is [here](http://winterskywrites.tumblr.com/), if you're interested.


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